Former DIG prisons Partha Gopal sentenced to 8 years in jail

A Dhaka court has sentenced suspended deputy inspector general (prisons), Partha Gopal Banik, to eight years in prison in a case of money laundering and taking bribes to acquiring illicit wealth.

Under two sections of the corruption prevention act, he has been sentenced to three years in prison for acquiring wealth by corrupt means, and five years for acquiring wealth beyond his means of known and verifiable income.

However, allegations of bribery and money laundering have not been substantiated, reads a verdict pronounced by Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 on Sunday.

Even though the sentencing has been separated into two, the punishment will continue concurrently and Partha will effectively spend only five years in jail, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal told reporters.

Partha was also fined Tk50,000 or three months in prison if he fails to pay the fine . Also, of the Tk80 lakh recovered from his possession, Tk65 lakh was ordered confiscated.

The court ruled that accused Partha Gopal Banik was a government official and received a fixed salary and allowance making possessing Tk80 lakh unusual, the source of which he could not satisfactorily prove or explain.

The verdict was to be announced on 27 December after a hearing. The testimony of 12 witnesses was taken in this case.

Partha's bail application to the High Court for this case was rejected on a number of occasions, and the trial court was directed to expedite disposal of the case.

However, in defiance of the High Court, Partha was granted bail by Dhaka Special Judge Court Judge, Md Iqbal Hossain, on 19 June last year. He was released from jail and a private television channel reported that the bail order had been issued in secret.

On 2 September, the High Court cancelled bail and he was asked to surrender to the trial court by 20 September. The case was also directed to be transferred to Special Court-4.

Accordingly, when he surrendered to the court on 19 September, his bail was denied and he was sent to jail. The case was also sent to the special court for further trial.

Partha Gopal was interrogated at the ACC's Dhaka Integrated District Office-1 on the morning of 28 July 2019, and his house in Kalabagan was raided in the afternoon. ACC officials had to wait in front of his apartment for about two hours when his wife did not open the door. At one point, when the officials decided to break the door down, Partha's wife threw bags and sacks at them with Tk80 lakh in them that was confiscated.

ACC Dhaka Integrated District Office-1 Assistant Director, Md Salauddin, filed a case against Partha on charges of bribery and money laundering. He was later arrested in the case and sent to jail by the court.

On 24 August 2020, the same officer filed a charge sheet against Partha and on 4 November, the court asked to form charges against him and begin the trial.

The case alleges that Partha served at Chittagong Central Jail before serving in Sylhet. He joined as DIG (prisoner) of Chittagong on 8 August 2016. ACC interrogated him and former Chittagong senior jail superintendent, Prashant Kumar Banik, as part of an investigation into allegations of irregularities and corruption at the Chittagong jail, followed by the raid on Partha's home.

On 30 July 2019, the home ministry suspended Partha retroactively from the day of his arrest by order of the president. Partha's lawyer Ehsanur Haque Samaji says the verdict will be appealed.